Lafayette's Moore, Quincy Solve Cornell * The Duo Takes Over The Game In The Second Half To Down The Big Red.

September 29, 1996|by TED MEIXELL, The Morning Call

Lafayette football coach Bill Russo loves the time-tested football axiom that suggests, "When nothing else is working, hand the ball to, or throw it to, your best athletes and let them make a big play."

Yesterday, Russo ordered quarterback Shawn McHale to throw the ball to Quincy Miller and hand it to Leonard Moore, and that duo and a rock-ribbed Leopards' defensive unit delighted a Homecoming Day turnout of 5,828 at Fisher Field to a confidence-building 30-19 upset of Ivy League contender Cornell.

Through 90 percent of the first half, not much of anything was working for Lafayette's beleaguered offense. Only because the defense had come up big with its back to the wall was Cornell's lead a mere 6-0.

But then, faced with a fourth-and-10 from the Big Red's 29-yard line, McHale threw the ball to Miller. Miller was blanketed by Cornell's 6-foot-2, 207-pound cornerback Kevin Portuondo at about the 1, hard by the sideline. But he leaped, outfought Portuondo for the ball, kept his feet and struggled into the end zone -- backward.

Brian Menecola's PAT kick enabled the 'Pards to take a 7-6 lead into the locker room at halftime, a lead they probably didn't deserve.

Miller produced two more huge plays after intermission.

Moore shook off a costly fumble early in the third period with a vengeance, rumbling to a career-best 187 yards on 23 carries.

The defense, spearheaded by strong safety B.J. Gallis and linebacker Jay Urban, two more of Lafayette's best athletes, stuffed heralded Big Red tailback Chad Levitt and forced three turnovers.

And Lafayette (2-1) ran off 23 unanswered points for a win that was, by game's end, deserved.

"I can't tell you how pleased I am," Russo said. "For a football coach, that was old-time football. We ran the ball well, which had its effect. We got a few big plays from our passing game. And the defense played a great game.

"Last week (a poorly-played 36-6 loss to Northeastern) left a bad taste; we played way below our ability level. So to come back and play so well today was so important to us. Now we must use this as a springboard and continue to improve each week."

The improvement Russo is looking for will be especially important the next six days, because, on Saturday, the 'Pards will begin a five-week string of road games at Harvard, an Ivy club that yesterday handled Patriot League favorite Bucknell 30-7.

If Russo was pleased, his Cornell counterpart, Jim Hohfer, was anything but.

"This was a team defeat," Hohfer said, "which is normally the way it is. We were beaten by a hungrier, more opportunistic team than we were. Much is often said about being able to deal with adversity, but we didn't deal very well with prosperity today. We played OK in the first half, but this is a 60-minute game."

Hohfer was referring not only to the Big Red's inability to hold leads of 6-0 and 12-7 yesterday, but to their reaction coming off a dramatic 33-27 double-overtime win over Princeton.

Asked if a correlation existed between Cornell's good performance a week earlier and Lafayette's poor one, Hohfer responded, "There always is. That's because the games are played by humans."

Indeed, although Cornell (1-1) dominated play most of the first half and did build a 6-0 lead on field goals of 29 and 21 yards by John Rodin, it played like an overconfident team. In the end, that, and the inspired and rejuvenated Leopards, killed it.

Lost in the shadow of the more sensational big plays by Miller and Moore was Lafayette's first big play of the day, one produced by punter Ryan Cimo and freshman quarterback/long snapper Mike Palos of Bethlehem Catholic.

With 2 minutes, 37 seconds left in the half, another Leopards' possession petered out at the Cornell 41. Cimo lofted a punt and, when Palos hustled downfield to down it at the 4, a 6-0 halftime deficit seemed a tad less inevitable.

It wasn't. Urban and Jim Levelis stuffed Levitt twice for a net loss of a yard. The 'Pards used a timeout. A Scott Caroll pass fell incomplete and, when Barrett Hammons returned the ensuing punt 6 yards, Lafayette was in business at the Big Red 29.

Developments took a downward turn when three McHale passes fell incomplete. But that's when he decided to throw a "jump ball" toward Miller, and Quincy turned it into a 7-6 lead.

"That's all it was," the smiling Miller said of his big catch. "Shawn said, `I'm going to throw it up there, you go get it.'"

The third quarter began ominously, though, because Moore coughed up a fumble at the Leopards' 41 and Cornell quickly drove to the go-ahead score -- an 8-yard TD toss from Carroll to wideout Eric Krawczyk.

After that, though, all the big plays were colored maroon. Miller made an incredible, leaping catch at the Cornell 20 and tippytoed along the sideline to the 11 before finally going out of bounds.

Three plays later, fullback Todd Stahlnecker bulled in from the 2 to put the 'Pards on top for keeps.

Later, Moore turned in a dazzling 50-yard run along the left sideline to set up a bulldozing 3-yard TD run by A.J. Samonte. And Miller capped off his big day (5 catches, 103 yards) with a diving, 18-yard TD reception.